Subitising with Tootgarook Primary School

https://player.vimeo.com/video/1160042612

[On-screen text: Strengthening number sense at home — Subitising with Tootgarook Primary School] [IMAGE: Victorian Mathematics Ambassadors Emily Glen and Patrick Kennedy stand and face camera]

[Emily Glen] Hi, I’m Em, and I’m here to tell you about subitising. Subitising is a term that you’re most likely unfamiliar with. In schools, it may be pronounced subitising or subitising, but either way, it means knowing how many is in a small group without counting.

For example, when I hold up my fingers like this, you know straight away that it’s three. The students at Tootgarook Primary School, along with their teacher, Daisy, will show you what subitising looks like for them at school, and then they’ll give you some ideas for supporting this skill at home.

[IMAGE: Daisy Everett, teacher, stands at front of a classroom holding cards in her hands. 6 students sitting at desks have whiteboards and pens in front of them]

[Daisy Everett] So, I’m going to show you some cards for two seconds, then you have to have a go at writing the number. Are we ready? Okay. Okay, let’s chin it, three, two, one.

[Students] Chin it!

[Daisy Everett] You guys, amazing. That answer was six, fantastic. Okay, pop your whiteboards down and park them. Are we ready for the next one? Let’s chin it in three, two, one.

[Students] Chin it.

[Daisy Everett] Fantastic. The answer was one. Well done. Okay, eyes up here. Pop your whiteboards down and park them. We are going to be having a look at some tens frames today. I’m going to only show you them for two seconds, all right? Can we all answer together?

[Students] Yes.

[Daisy Everett] Okay, are we ready?

[Students] Nine.

[Daisy Everett] Well done! Okay, are you ready for the next one?

[Students] 10.

[Daisy Everett] Fantastic. All right, are we ready?

[Students] Two.

[Daisy Everett] Well done. Last one.

[Students] Four.

[Daisy Everett] Four. Well done. That was great.

[On-screen text: At home tips Daisy Everett, Teacher, Tootgarook Primary School]

[IMAGE: Daisy Everett (teacher) sits on a classroom table]

[Daisy Everett, Teacher] Subitising is the instant knowing of how many there are in a small group without needing to count. For most people, this number is about four or five, unless there is a familiar layout. By practising subitising at home, you can help your learner to become familiar with different dot patterns, which helps them subitise larger groups.

Recognising numbers as a group helps build important understanding for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. This mastery makes harder maths easier. To support learning subitising at home, dice and domino patterns, tens frames, or even real life examples, like 10-pin bowling, fingers on hands and toes and feet all can be used to subitise, including lots of different arrangements of items is also important, so your learner does not rely on familiar patterns.

Quickly holding up your fingers and asking, “How many?” can be a fun game while practising the important skill of subitising. I hope you enjoy practising subitising together.

[On-screen text: Thank you to Daisy, students, staff and parents of Tootgarook Primary School for their support in producing this video.]

[On-screen text: Victoria State Government logo Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne].

[End transcript]

Updated 26 February 2026

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Subitising with Tootgarook Primary School

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